Family members can share a UV account, allowing them all to download and stream purchases made by individuals.

Streaming is available over the web, so the service can be accessed by any device with a browser and enough horsepower to play standard definition video.

How all this is "too complicated" for Britons isn't clear. It can't be the notion of gaining a downloadable copy when you buy a disc, because Tesco already offers such a service to Clubcard loyalty card owners. Content bought from Tesco on disc can also be accessed through Blinkbox, the grocer's online media subsidiary.

Well some of that content. Tesco and Blinkbox lack the rights to give most movies away to disc buyers.

And perhaps that's the problem, from Tesco's perspective: until a sufficiently large volume of movies and TV series on disc automatically come with a download, punters won't be able to take advantage of the system.

Oh, and it's highly likely Tesco isn't keen on folk buying a disc from, say, Amazon and getting a free download from Blinkbox, though that's a scenario UV - which is backed by Tesco - was designed to make possible.

Providing easy access to downloads for already owned content is a key part of UV's strategy to pull people away from Torrent sites. Hopefully, Tesco isn't making the (incorrect) assumption that having the UK's major ISPs block The Pirate Bay will kill Torrenting in Britain, rendering UV unnecessary. ®